500 Days of Quinn
by gd20
Summary: This is a story of girl meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.  500 Days of Summer/Glee crossover
1. Chapter 1

This is a story of girl meets girl. The first girl, Santana Lopez of Lima Heights, Ohio, grew up believing that she'd never truly be happy until the day she met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to catchy, American pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie "Pretty Woman." The second girl, Quinn Fabray of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only loved two things. The first was her long blonde hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Santana meets Quinn on January 8th. She knows almost immediately she is who she has been searching for. This is a story of girl meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.

* * *

><p><strong>(488)<strong>

Sitting side by side at her favorite park in Brooklyn, Santana's eyes focused intently on Quinn who gazed out on the skyline. The brunette scanned the girl next to her and she wondered how she could ever love anyone else. Just as Santana turned to admire the New York skyscrapers, she felt Quinn's left hand rest gently on hers. Like gravity, Santana's attention was pulled into the familiar touch. Quinn turned and gave her a warm smile, which Santana returned with soft eyes as the contact of the cold band on the blonde's ring finger weighed heavily in her consciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>(1)<strong>

Santana sat at the end of a long conference table and willed the hands on the clock to move faster. In a room with her fellow co-workers, she half-listened to her boss, Will Schuester, present an update on the current news stories they had been tracking. Most of the information didn't apply to her since she solely wrote the gossip column, but the weekly meeting was mandatory so she didn't have a choice. Like most days at the office, she felt like a robot just going through the motions with a complete sense of indifference. Amidst her thoughts of what this monotonous week would bring, a knock at the door made her abandon her daydream and wake up. A girl whom no one had seen before entered the room and her presence made Santana sit up straight. Dressed in a blue, floral patterned dress and a grey cardigan, the short haired blonde glowed as she smiled and waited for Will to finish his last sentence.

* * *

><p><strong>(240)<strong>

A frantic knock at the door of Santana's apartment sent her best friends Puck and Mike flying to get it. Relieved, the two boys swung open the door to see Santana's younger sister, Monica.

"Thank God. We didn't know who else to call," Mike said.

"It's Sugar Motta all over again," Puck added as the young girl entered the apartment.

"You did the right thing. Where is she?" Monica asked as she turned the corner to see Santana rummaging through the kitchen cabinets in a desperate search for sweets. On the counter, an empty pint of Ben & Jerry's rolled to the floor to join a bunch of other candy wrappers.

"Santana," the 18 year old said sternly.

"Monica? What are you doing here?" Santana said as she turned in shock at the sound of her sister's voice.

"I'm here to help you."

"Help me? Help me how?"

"First, put down the snickers bar."

...

"Tell us what happened," Monica said as she sat on the coffee table parallel to the couch where Santana was slouched over.

"It's nothing. It's really nothing. This is just fucking stupid," Santana insisted with her face in her hands. Puck and Mike took a seat next to her on the couch and rolled their eyes in unison.

"Oh, shut up. Look at me," Monica demanded. To her friends' amazement, the brunette instantly obeyed and picked her head up. "Drink this."

"What is this? Wait, does Mom even know you're here? Isn't it a school night?" Santana said with confusion as she gulped down the contents of the glass to find it was straight vodka.

"Raiding Dad's liquor cabinet again?" she asked as her lips puckered at the taste of the strong liquor.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. This is about you. Tell us what happened."

Santana sat up and took a deep breath.

"We spent the entire day together," she explained as memories from the afternoon raced through her head. First, they went to the bookstore where Santana read up on the new venue that was being built down the street while Quinn shopped for a friend's birthday present. Then they got lunch and went to see the new dark comedy that Quinn had been dying to see for weeks. After that, they made their way to a record store where Santana found a Mariah Carey greatest hits CD. As Santana went over each part of the day in detail, Puck kept refilling her glass with the cheap liquor Monica had brought over. "Finally, we went to my favorite diner for dinner."

"Then what?" Monica pressed on.

...

"_I love eating pancakes for dinner. It's like the best of both worlds," Santana declared as she anxiously awaited her plate of pancakes._

"_I think we should stop seeing each other," Quinn said suddenly. After saying those words, she sighed heavily as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Santana stared at the blonde and blinked a few times as she shook her head, trying to find words._

"_What?" Santana mustered up._

"_This thing...you and me. Do you think this is normal?"_

"_Yes. No...I don't know. Who cares? I'm happy. Aren't you happy?"_

"_You're happy?" Quinn said with astonishment. _

"_You're not?" Santana questioned with even more astonishment._

"_All we do is argue!"_

"_Okay, now that is bullshit," Santana said heatedly._

"_Really? This can't come as a complete surprise to you, S. We've been on the rocks for weeks now."_

_Just as Santana was about to open her mouth to rebuttal Quinn's last statement, the waitress came with their meals and interrupted the two._

"_Let's just eat. We'll talk about this later," Quinn said as she grabbed her fork and dug into the huge plate of pancakes in front of her. Santana remained still, leaving her food untouched and keeping her eyes glued on the blonde in front of her._

"_You're right, these are some great pancakes," Quinn noted as she avoided making eye contact with Santana. Once the silence grew to be unbearable, the blonde peered up to see the look of disbelief on Santana's face before she got up and stormed out towards the door. _

"_Wait, Santana, don't go! You're still my best friend!"_

...

"Damn. The best friend line," Mike said as he took a swig of vodka himself.

"Give me that," Santana said as she stole the glass away and downed the remains. On cue, Puck refilled the cup before she could place it on the table.

"Come on, San. This isn't that bad," Monica said. "You've gone through break-ups like this before. Give it a week or so and you'll be over her and on to the next one."

"No. This is different."

"Why are you so sure?" Monica asked.

"Cause it's Quinn."

"San, she wasn't even that special. Honestly, the girl was kind of a bitch," Puck said as Mike and Monica quickly gave him disapproving looks. "Uhh, I mean you'll find someone else. Someone better. Really San, you deserve someone better."

"Yeah, it's like they say, there's plenty of fish in the sea," Mike offered.

"No," Santana said strongly.

"Sure they do, they say that," Mike insisted.

"Well they're lying," Santana said with a slur as the alcohol started to hit her. "She's the girl I've been looking for," she continued with confidence as she took another sip from the glass. "I don't want to get over her. I want to get her back."

* * *

><p><strong>(1)<strong>

"Sorry to interrupt," Quinn said as she handed Will a note with a message from a field reporter.

"Oh it's no problem at all," he said with a cheeky smile. "Everyone, this is Quinn, my new secretary. She just moved here from Michigan, isn't that right?"

"Yep. Michigan," she confirmed with a nod.

"Right. Everyone this is Quinn. Quinn, everyone. Well, I have to go return this call so that's good for today. Make sure you all get your articles for Wednesday to me by the end of the day," Will said as he stood up and briskly left the room.

Quinn suddenly found herself standing in front of a bunch of strangers. She waved politely as she quickly scanned the room for a friendly face. When her eyes locked briefly with Santana's, she gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"Nice to meet you all," Quinn said in a soft voice before following Will out of the conference room.

As if Santana had just been put under a spell, it took her a few seconds to move, let alone change her facial expression. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but there was something about Quinn that had her spinning. Maybe it was her breath-taking good looks. Maybe it was her quaint style. Maybe it was the sound of her melodic voice. Maybe it was the mesmerizing feeling that came over her from one, simple smile from the blonde. Now abandoned in the conference room, Santana forced herself to snap out of her daze and return to reality. Thanks to the new girl from Michigan, she rejoined her co-workers filled with an unfamiliar feeling of optimism.

* * *

><p><strong>(3)<strong>

Santana sat at her desk and desperately tried to focus long enough to finish her latest story on celebrity look-a-likes.

"Hey, Santana!" Puck said from the next cubicle over, waving his arms trying to get her attention. "I hear she's a bitch."

"Who?" Santana asked, although she had a pretty good idea of who he meant. Ever since Quinn's arrival, the two had been doing everything they could to try and figure her out. Santana, especially, had been completely infatuated with the blonde. From across the office, she had the perfect view of Quinn shuffling reports and stories on her desk while, at the same time, trying to keep up with the phone that never seemed to stop ringing. It was quite a distraction for Santana and multiple times a day she caught herself staring at Quinn from the corner of her eye. As her best friend and wingman, it was obvious to Puck that Santana already had it bad for the new secretary.

"Quinn! Jacob tried to talk to her in the supply room and she totally ignored him. Didn't say a word."

"Damn," Santana said as she shook her head.

"Why do all the hot girls think they can treat people like that?" Puck said.

"That's the million dollar question, my friend. You know what? Fine, whatever. If she wants to be like that, she can be like that. I don't even care," Santana said, trying to convince herself that that was the truth.

* * *

><p><strong>(4)<strong>

Santana stepped on the elevator, put on her headphones and escaped to the world of music. Drowning in the melodies of her favorite playlist was the one thing that was guaranteed to make her happy after a long day of work. Just as the elevator was closing, Quinn slid her hand between the doors and stopped them. Santana's heart raced as the blonde smiled and nodded in her direction. The 11-floor ride began and Santana decided that ignoring the gorgeous blonde was the best way to avoid doing anything stupid.

"Adele," Quinn said as she heard the music blaring from the headphones. Santana, pretending not to hear or care, simply gave Quinn an unenthusiastic wave.

"I love Adele," the blonde continued.

"Sorry, what?" Santana said, removing one of her ear buds.

"I said I love Adele, you have good taste in music."

"You like Adele?" the brunette questioned in amazement.

"'I dare you to let me be your one and only.' I love her," Quinn sang along briefly as the elevator doors opened at the lobby. The blonde smirked at Santana before leaving her alone with her music.

"Holy shit," Santana said aloud. Jaw dropped and feet rooted to the ground, she made no attempt to exit as the elevator doors closed in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2

**(8)**

"Congratulations Mercedes!" the office exclaimed in unison, all gathered around the conference table as their co-worker entered the room. Mercedes Jones was a long time employee of _Newsday_ and had recently gotten engaged for the third time. Santana would never admit it, of course, but Mercedes was one of her favorite people to work with.

The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to Mercedes and normally at an office party like this, Santana would only stick around long enough for her boss to see that she had made an appearance. Office parties in the past had always meant a short day for Santana...but this one was different.

Today the office was decorated tastefully with streamers and balloons, and there was even a large banner centered perfectly over the conference table. Never before had the office looked this festive and Santana knew it was all Quinn's doing. There was no way she was skipping out early with that girl here.

Santana made half-ass small talk with a couple of co-workers as she eagerly awaited her chance to finally get the blonde alone. She gazed at Quinn from across the room who looked stunning in dark jeans and a grey blazer. Schuester was practically keeping her hostage on the other side of the room, introducing his new secretary to anyone he could find.

As the party continued and people began to mingle and disperse, Santana maneuvered her way through the party until she was standing next to Quinn.

"Hey, um, Quinn, right?"

"Mhmm. Adele fan," the blonde said with a genuine smile.

"That's right. I'm Santana."

"Santana. I like that name," Quinn said, still smiling. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Santana replied, noting how much she loved the way her name sounded rolling off the girl's tongue. "So, you just moved here?"

"Yep. Sunday," Quinn confirmed with a nod.

"Liking the city so far?"

"Definitely. I think I'm a city girl at heart."

"Well that's good," Santana said as she racked her brain for questions to keep the conversation going.

"So, um, what brought you here?"

"Boredom, really. I needed a change of pace; something exciting. Ya know…new scenery, new people, new job. Figured New York was a good start."

"Well, obviously you've come to the right place," Santana said as she turned to face the office party which was becoming duller by the minute.

"Obviously," Quinn said with a chuckle, and her laughter was contagious. It instantly became Santana's goal to hear it again.

The two stood in a comfortable silence for a moment, absorbing the dwindling scene around them and soaking up each other's company.

"So, what happens when you get bored again?" Santana asked, causing Quinn's eyes to shift from her drink up to her brown eyes. The blonde turned her head slightly, seemingly in deep thought. Santana quickly got the feeling that no one had ever asked her that question before.

"I guess we'll have to see, Santana," Quinn said with half a smirk.

…

As their co-workers continued mingling in the center of the office, the two girls took off walking around the hallways, chatting easily back and forth.

"So, what about you? Have you been working here long?"

"Long enough. I think almost 5 years," Santana said, sounding almost defeated.

"Years? Jeez, that's a while. Have you always wanted to write the gossip column?"

"Oh God no, I don't even want to do it _now_," Santana said, sending the blonde into another fit of adorable laughter.

"Well maybe you should do something else."

"Yeah, maybe. I used to sing and write music."

"That's awesome!" Quinn said, beaming. "What happened?"

Santana paused for a moment and smiled, only because the girl in front of her was growing cuter by the second. It quickly faded due to the fact that the topic at hand was not her favorite.

"A couple record deals fell through. It just didn't work out. I'd been at it for so long I figured it was time to get a job with a steady income. Fast-forward a few years and here I am," Santana said, shrugging a bit.

"Are you any good?"

"Well…," Santana began as she searched the frames on the wall of "Highlighted Articles" that they were walking down.

"I wrote that one," she said as they arrived at the last framed article.

The two stood side by side as Quinn read the headline aloud, "Complete Kardashian Chaos!"

"Yeah, it's thrilling stuff," Santana said, her voice unenthused.

"Mhmm, I can see that," the blonde replied with a grin as she skimmed over the rest of the article. "But what I meant was, are you any good at singing?"

"Ohhh. Well…I was okay. Not good enough, it seems," Santana said with a weak smile.

"Well, you are fantastic at keeping up with the Kardashians."

"Ah, thank you, Quinn. You know, that's all I've ever really wanted in this world," Santana boasted with oozing sarcasm, making the blonde laugh even harder than she did before.

"You're funny," Quinn spoke softly after a few seconds. Slowly, she took a step closer, causing the girls' fingers to brush ever so lightly.

"Thanks," the brunette said, watching Quinn with fascination. A smile grew on Santana's lips as she felt the girl's hand still lingering against hers. She swore she could feel the blonde's fingers start to wrap around hers just as Quinn abruptly pulled her hand away.

"Anyway," she said, clearing her throat. "I should really be going."

"Oh okay, well, I'll see you around," Santana replied.

"See you."

And just like that, she was gone. For the second time since they had met, Quinn left Santana helplessly on edge and wanting more. She watched completely enamored as the blonde walked swiftly back to her desk, grabbed her things, and headed out the door.

It took Santana a minute before she could think clearly, let alone move.

She took one last look at her Kardashian story and shook her head before making her way back to her desk. Once there, she quickly packed up her things, ignoring the seven unread emails in her inbox. There was really no point to staying late since there was no way she'd be able to focus with Quinn on her mind.

Instead, she simply called it a day. As Santana put in her ear buds and stepped on the elevator, she suddenly got the urge to dig out her old guitar when she got home for the first time in almost two years.


	3. Chapter 3

**(154)**

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The nicest one Santana could remember in a while, actually. The heat wasn't as unbearable as expected for a summer afternoon in New York, and there was a nice breeze that perfectly cut the humidity.

Santana and Mike decided to take advantage of the day by heading out to Central Park to throw the frisbee around. As they walked down the streets of the city, the two soaked up the sun and seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. That was until the silence was broken.

"It's official," Santana said dramatically, grabbing Mike's attention.

"I'm in love with Quinn," she finished without even breaking stride.

Mike, on the other hand, stopped walking completely after hearing his roommate's news. His face flashed a mixture of horror and disbelief before he could compose himself.

"This can't be good," he said to himself as he ran to catch up with Santana.

…

After about an hour of tossing the disk, the two took a break and found a shady spot under a tree to lie down. Since Santana dropped the love bomb, Mike had tip toed around the subject since he was unsure if this was just another one of Santana's crushes or if it was cause for concern.

"I love her smile," Santana began out of the blue.

"I love her style. I love her voice when she sings. I love that cute little face she makes when she gets annoyed. I love the scar on her back from this surgery she had as a kid," she said as she closed her eyes and imagined Quinn as if she was lying next to her.

"I love how she looks when she's sleeping. I love the sound of her laugh. I love how I hear 'Yellow' every time I think of her." She smiled as the chorus of the Coldplay song looped through her head.

Suddenly she stood up and continued while Mike looked at her with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. When she spoke, he noticed that it was as if she were thinking aloud. She barely looked at him as she talked and it was clear she didn't expect any reaction or response.

"I love how she makes me feel. Like anything's possible. Like I can be better. Like I can do better. I don't know…like life is worth it or something."

When she finished her speech of sorts, a smile was plastered to her face and she had to bite her lip to contain it. Her hands were busy fiddling with the disk and after what felt like a couple of minutes, her pulse returned to its normal rate and she tossed the frisbee to Mike.

"Come on, round two," Santana said, as she turned to return to her spot further out in the park.

Mike sat silent as he watched his best friend walk away with an unnatural spring in her step.

"Oh shit. This is definitely not good."

* * *

><p><strong>(11)<strong>

Once a week, Santana tried to visit home to spend some time with her family, her sister in particular. When she was younger, she never used to get along with her mother or sister. Her hormones and attitude nearly wrecked the family dynamic in high school. Once she moved out, she got the nice slice of reality that she needed. She quickly found herself becoming more mature and in turn, becoming closer with her Mom.

She was convinced her sister was a 30 year old morphed into an 18 year old's body. The girl had some serious wit and understood things better than Santana did most of the time. She had an old soul, a trait that Santana definitely did not inherit. Over the years they discovered this to come in handy when Monica had to listen to her sister's countless relationship issues.

On this night, the two sisters sat in the living room and played guitar hero as her Mom and Dad made dinner.

"She loves art history. And she hates flying. The other day we talked about comic books for over an hour. We're so compatible it's insane," Santana rambled, listing off anything and everything she could think of about the blonde from work.

"Seriously. She's not like I thought at all. She's…she's amazing."

"Greatttt," Monica said, rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean, 'greatttt'?'" Santana snapped.

"Just because some chick likes the same bizarro crap you do does not make you her soul mate."

Santana tried to think of something to say but she could only bite her tongue. She decided to ignore her sister since she probably couldn't relate to how she was feeling anyway.

"Girls! Dinner!" a voice called from the kitchen.

The two threw down the controllers and raced to the table like they did every time Santana came over for dinner. Once they were all settled in the dining room, their mom couldn't help but notice Santana was in a better mood that usual.

"What is it?" she finally asked, taken aback by the fact that Santana was still in a radiating mood.

"She met a girl," Monica said uninterested, trying to dismiss the conversation.

"Really?" she asked with an excited smile.

"Really," Monica replied with deflated enthusiasm.

* * *

><p><strong>(22)<strong>

After work, Santana, Puck and Mike all met at their favorite bar for drinks called Lucky's. After Santana and Mike moved into their apartment, it became their routine hang out spot within the first month of living in the city.

"It's done," Santana said as she sat down in their regular booth.

"What's done?" Mike asked after taking a swig of beer.

"Me and Quinn."

"Wait. Am I missing something? Was it ever on?" Puck said, turning to Mike to see he was just as confused.

"No. But it could have been. In a world where good things happen to me."

"Yeah well, unfortunately that's not where we live or else you'd have a much nicer apartment."

"No shit, Puckerman."

"What happened?" Mike asked calmly, trying to neutralize the bickering.

"Alright, it was just yesterday."

…

_She stepped on the elevator to ride up the 11 floors, half awake on a promisingly dull Monday morning. _

_Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Quinn slipped her hands between them so they reopened for her. Santana perked up immediately but tried to mask her reaction as the elevator began to move._

"_Quinn," she said coolly._

"_Mhmm?" the blonde replied, seemingly just as exhausted as she was._

"_How was your weekend?"_

"_It was good."_

…

When Santana finished explaining the scene, Puck and Mike exchanged confused looks and waited for more.

"Can you believe that shit?" Santana asked, almost offended.

"What shit? Did you forget a part of that story, genius?"

"She said, 'it was _good_.' Not, '_it_ was good.' Totally emphasizing the good. She basically told me in some fucked up code that she spent the weekend in bed with someone she met at a club."

"You're kidding, right?"

"She's obviously not interested. There's nothing I can do," Santana said with a shrug.

"I love you and all, but you're a fucking idiot sometimes, you know that?"

Santana gasped but smiled and slugged Puck on the shoulder.

"Watch it," she sneered.

"Hey, I'm just saying. You got all that based off of 'it was _good_'?"

"Not just that. Other things too."

"Oh yeah? Do share," Mike replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, please share. Cause you know if a girl says 'hi' instead of 'hey' that totally means she's not into girls, right?" Puck said, doing his best impression of a girl caught up in the latest gossip.

Santana threw another punch at Puck while the two boys tried their best not to lose it. When the laughter died down, Santana continued.

"I've given her plenty of chances."

"Why don't you just ask her out?" Mike offered.

"That's not how it works anymore."

"Sure it is."

"How would you two know? You've been dating Tina since high school, and you," Santana says, picking up her beer and hitting it against the side of Puck's bottle. "I can't even remember the last time you went on a real date."

The two boys opened their mouths to refute, but Santana cut them off.

"Please, you two are hardly relationship experts."

"Whatever, just grow a pair and ask her out, Lopez," Puck said, losing interest in this topic fast.

Santana shook her head before downing the rest of her beer and calling the bartender over for another.


	4. Chapter 4

**(27)**

Santana sat at her desk and glanced up at the clock that hung above her cubicle. Only two hours left. The days seemed to be going by a lot faster lately, and she knew she could thank her newfound distraction for that.

"Lopez!" Puck yelled, making the girl jump. "Tomorrow. All you can karaoke at The Fieldhouse."

"Nope. Nope. No way Puckerman," Santana said as she shook her head and scanned her desk to find something to keep her productive.

"What!? Come on. We love karaoke."

"Correction – _you_ love karaoke," Puck rolled his eyes but Santana continued. "And there's no way they're letting you back in after last time."

"I wasn't that bad," Puck persisted.

"Sure you weren't. You only threw up on the stage, tried to fight the bouncer, and then to top it all of, you threatened to burn the place down."

"I think you're remembering it wrong."

"And I think you're delusional. We're not going back there."

"But it won't be like that this time. It's a work thing. The whole office is going," Puck said, raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously, I can't. Even if I wanted to I got something…"

"Lopez, you're not hearing me," Puck interrupted. "The _whole_ _office_ is going," he finished, looking up and over to where Quinn was sitting.

Santana's eyes followed his and when they reached the blonde, she knew she was in for a long Friday night.

* * *

><p><strong>(28)<strong>

It was pretty busy for a karaoke night at The Fieldhouse. The office party must've brought a bigger crowd than she expected, Santana thought as she tried to move through the sea of people gathered at the front door.

When she finally made her way to the bar, she could hear Puck was already at it. His voice blared over the speakers and by the sound of the slurring she could tell he was more than tipsy at this point.

She leaned against the bar and flagged the bartender over for a drink. Looking to her left, she spotted Quinn almost instantly who was mingling across the room with a couple other co-workers. The blonde was looking more gorgeous than usual in her street clothes of skinny jeans and a striped vneck.

When the girls made eye contact, the blonde dropped her conversation and joined Santana at the bar.

"Hey! They said you weren't coming," Quinn said, happily eying Santana.

"You…you asked if I was coming?"

Before Quinn could answer, Puck barged between the two and threw his arm around Santana.

"Did you see me, Lopez? Damn, that song was brilliant," he said, quickly reading the look on Santana's face. "Oh, what's up Quinn?"

"Not much, rock star," she smiled, talking to Puck but looking at Santana.

"Oop, hold that thought, that's me. I'm up!" Quinn said after seeing her name flash on one of the screens located around the bar. "Wish me luck!"

All in one motion, she grabbed and downed a shot off a tray that Mercedes was holding next them. She then headed for the stage as Puck began to chant her name. By the time Quinn reached the microphone, most of the bar had joined in on the chant.

"Okay, I'm new here," the blonde said as she adjusted the mic. "No making fun of me."

Quinn's charming remark sent all the _Newsday_ employees cheering as the music started playing. Santana recognized the song as Valerie by Amy Winehouse within seconds and it sent a stupid grin across her face.

…

Santana learned two things after that performance. Not only was Quinn a good singer, but she was also a huge dork. Her quirky dance moves had the whole place entertained and it was easy to see that Valerie was going to be hard to top.

A couple songs later, Santana found herself sitting in a booth across from Puck who was drunkenly talking about his latest video game obsession. She half-listened as she gazed out around them looking for Quinn. When she found the blonde, she couldn't help but stare. The more she learned about the girl, the more she needed to know more.

When Quinn looked up and noticed Santana's eyes on her, she waved. Santana smiled back, hoping that maybe she would join them. When Quinn turned to continue with her discussion with Mercedes, the brunette tried to hide her disappointment as she tossed back the rest of her beer and went to get another.

…

It was Santana's third drink of the night. Usually by this point she'd be further along, but since she had to keep an eye out for Puck she decided to take it easy tonight. When she returned to the booth with a new beer for her and Puck, she found Quinn sitting in her seat. Santana put down the drinks, smiled, and took a seat next to Puck.

"Sorry I didn't know you were over here. I would've gotten you a drink," Santana offered.

"It's okay, I got one." Quinn motioned to what looked like a rum and coke that was in front of her.

"Oh good. You were really great up there, by the way," Santana said, nodding to the stage.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, totally. Much better than this one." Santana discretely pointed to Puck who was focused intently on sending a text.

"Thanks," Quinn said, laughing her cute little laugh that drove Santana crazy.

"So," Puck said, slapping his phone shut and joining the conversation, "You single?" he directed at the blonde.

"Yep," she replied, taking a sip of her drink.

"Really?!" Puck exclaimed, flabbergasted. "And why's that?"

"Because I want to be."

"I don't buy that," Puck said, shaking his head.

"What's not to buy? I just don't feel comfortable being somebody's girlfriend. I don't want to be anybody's _anything_, ya know?"

"Nope. No idea what you're talking about."

"Alright. Let me break it down. I like being on my own. Relationships are fucked up and messy. Feelings always get hurt. Who needs all that? We're young. We're in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I say, let's have as much fun as possible and leave the serious stuff for later."

"Holy fuck," Puck said, pausing for a second before continuing. "You're a dude."

Santana chose to ignore Puck completely and asked the first thing that came to her mind.

"But what happens if you fall in love?"

After hearing Santana's question, Quinn laughed to herself a little bit.

"What?" the brunette pressed on.

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Believe what? It's love, not Santa Claus."

"Yeah but what does that word even mean? I've been in relationships before and I can tell you confidently that I've never seen it."

"Well maybe that's cause - "

"And you know most marriages end in divorce these days," Quinn interrupted. "Like my parents."

"Mine too," Puck chimed in.

"See. There's no such thing as love. It's fantasy," Quinn said bluntly, reaching for her drink.

"Well, I think you're wrong," Santana replied.

"Yeah? And what is it that I'm missing?" the blonde said with a devious smile.

Santana paused and tried to sort out her thoughts. It was hard when Quinn was looking at her that way.

"I think you know it when you feel it."

Quinn's smile changed to one of sincerity and she nodded her head.

"I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree."

Santana shook the feeling of defeat and shot the blonde a half smile in return. There was no way she was winning this one tonight.

"Alright, who's singing next?" Puck said, drumming his hands on the table.

"I nominate this little lady here," Quinn said as she pointed to Santana and winked.

"Oh nooo, no way. I don't like to sing in public anymore. I quit, remember?"

"Sure, sure," Quinn said as she rolled her eyes and stood up. "But you lip-synch to your headphones every morning."

The blonde grabbed Santana's hand and began to pull her from the booth to the stage.

"No, I don't…" Santana refuted, trying to decide if she was embarrassed or happy that Quinn had noticed something so little like that about her.

"Yeah, you really do, dweeb," Puck said before getting up and finding the bartender to request Santana next.

"It's okay, I like it. It takes a lot of self-confidence to look ridiculous," Quinn said with a smirk as she held Santana's hand tighter.

"Ridiculous?!" Santana protested, although it was hard to really be mad when Quinn's smile and laughter had completely disarmed her.

"Anyway, I'm not nearly drunk enough for this."

"Too bad," Quinn said as they arrived at the stage. The blonde nudged her up the stairs watched with pleasure as she stumbled up to the microphone.

…

It turned out that facing the stage and singing karaoke against her will really paid off. Quinn was completely impressed, and for the rest of the night the two chatted back and forth effortlessly.

Santana was intoxicated in everything that was Quinn: her laugh, her eyes, the soft brush of her hand against her skin. Everything. They were only interrupted when Puck fell flat on his face, wasted on stage singing some one hit wonder from the '80's.

"Oh shit," Santana muttered as she went to retrieve her best friend from the bouncer. Quinn collected their things and stood up to get Puck a cab.

"Is he gonna be okay?" the blonde asked when Santana met her outside with Puck slung over her shoulder.

"Oh, he'll be fine. This is nothing out of the usual for him," Santana said as the cab arrived.

"Hey," Puck said, gripping Santana's arm tight before she could help him in the car.

"What's up Puckerman?" she asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Not you, _you_," he said, pointing to Quinn. "She likes you."

"Okay, goodnight Puck!" Santana said as she quickly pushed him into the cab.

"I mean she likes you, likes you. For real. Why don't you just tell her, dude!?"

Santana shut the door as fast as she could and the cab drove off leaving her and Quinn alone with the memory of what had just happened.

"Sorry you had to see that. It happens every time we come here. It's unbelievable," Santana said, talking about a mile a minute trying to erase the last exchange with Puck from Quinn's mind.

"Is that true?" the blonde asked softly.

"Yeah, totally. He drinks way too much and loses his shit."

"No, not Puck. The other thing."

"What thing?" Santana asked coolly.

"Do you…like me?"

"Yeah. Of course. Of course I like you."

"As a friend?"

"Right. As a friend," Santana confirmed.

"Just as a friend?" Quinn continued.

The wheels in Santana's head spun as she tried to figure out the blonde's intent.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, I just…you're interesting. I want us to be friends. Is that okay?"

Santana smiled weakly and nodded quick.

"Yeah, totally. You and me, we should be friends."

"Cool," Quinn said with a smile before the silence set in.

The two looked at each other for a while and Santana bit her lip, fighting the urge to say something that would probably just come off as stupid.

"Well, I'm that way," Quinn said, motioning behind her. "Goodnight, Santana."

"Night, Quinn," the brunette said as she watched the blonde walk away.

As soon as she turned the corner and was out of sight, Santana kicked the ground and cursed at herself.

"Friends. Awesome. That's just great. Well done, Lopez, you fucking idiot."


	5. Chapter 5

**(29)**

The next day at work, Santana spent most of her time replaying little things from the night before in her mind. Thinking about Quinn singing karaoke or Quinn smiling at her from across the bar seemed to make time go by faster. Apparently, it made her a bit more productive, too, because halfway through the day Santana had already finished three articles, two of which weren't due for another week.

Looking for a way to kill time, she headed to the copy room to make duplicates of her latest work for the upcoming team meeting.

"Hi there," Quinn greeted as she approached the neighboring machine and began making her copies.

"Hey," Santana brightened.

As she sorted through the stack of papers in front of her, Santana couldn't help but steal a glance at Quinn. For a moment, she thought about saying something more, but the sight of a concentrated Quinn in work mode made her decide against it. So instead, they continued their copying in a comfortable silence.

"So, that was fun last - " Santana began but was interrupted by Quinn's proximity. When she turned, she expected to see the blonde in front of her copier, but much to her surprise Quinn was now only a few inches away.

Slowly, the blonde took one more step closer to fill the space between them. With their bodies pressed against each other, Santana watched Quinn with fascination. For a brief second, the thought that this could be a dream crossed her mind.

Time seemed to slow and Santana continued to stare at Quinn in wonder. For the first time, she noticed things she hadn't before. The blonde's eyes that often looked hazel now shimmered with green. Her skin looked so soft; Santana ached to place her hand on Quinn's face - but she wouldn't dare. Not until the blonde made the first move.

Almost as though Quinn was reading her thoughts, she smirked before pulling Santana in by the neck for a kiss. It was cautious at first. Quinn delicately placed her lips on Santana's as the brunette pushed away her lingering thought that this could still be a dream.

Quinn then wrapped her arms around Santana's waist and deepened the kiss. Their lips collided and Santana could feel the electricity pass through them. Mid-kiss, she put a hand on Quinn's cheek and traced that soft skin that had been taunting her for weeks.

The two continued to kiss, getting carried away for being in the office copy room. When they finally separated, Santana stayed put in Quinn's arms. Both breathless, they seemed to be high off just each other.

"Hi," Santana smiled, sending Quinn into her contagious laughter. The blonde rested her forehead against Santana's.

"Do you wanna get dinner with me tonight?" Santana asked, not wasting any time.

Before she could answer, Quinn's copier spit out its last sheet. Abruptly, the blonde nodded and gave Santana a quick kiss before gathering her two piles of papers. Just like that, Quinn vanished from the copy room, leaving Santana alone with buzzing expectations and her lust for the mysterious blonde.

* * *

><p><strong>(29.5)<strong>

"You son of a bitch," Mike said, storming into their apartment after work.

"Mike! Shh!" Santana scrambled from off the couch to contain her roommate at the door.

"The same girl you've been obsessing over for weeks now?" he continued, referring to the text Santana had sent him explaining she was seeing Quinn that night.

"I wouldn't say obsessing..."

"The same girl you said you didn't have a chance with because she was way out of your league. That girl?"

"Mike - _stop_," Santana pleaded to no avail.

"Did you bang her?"

"No!"

"No?" Mike raised his eyebrow.

"No! Jesus, it's not like that," Santana exhaled before continuing. "We kissed."

Mike huffed and shook his head.

"Be honest with me, San. As your roommate slash best friend who had to put up with all this talk...Quinn this, Quinn that, Quinn Quinn Quinn. I mean, you were practically stalking her."

"Mike, seriously! Shut the fuck up!"

Suddenly, the sound of the toilet flushing followed by running water abruptly stopped their argument. From the bathroom, Quinn emerged, dressed to go out.

"Oh," Mike's eyes widened. He glanced over at Santana, who was clearly unamused.

"Hi, I'm Quinn," the blonde said in a chipper voice.

"Quinn, wow what an unusual name," Mike stammered. "Santana, how come you've never mentioned you knew such a lovely little lady? Or perhaps you have and I've just forgot. I mean, with all the women in Santana's life it's hard to keep up with..."

Mike finished his ramble with an awkward laugh and looked at Santana who was giving him a death glare. Her stern face read that he was not helping.

"Okay, well, I was just...I'm Santana's roommate."

"Mike," Santana introduced him.

"Hi, Mike," Quinn greeted with a smile.

"Anyway, I'm leaving now. Pretend like I was never here. See ya!"

Mike took a couple steps backward and waved before leaving. Santana quickly followed and shut the door behind him.

"If you heard any of that..." she said, pointing after Mike.

"Heard what?"

"Excellent. Ready to go?"

"Oh yeah, I'm stalking," Quinn said with a smirk as she walked passed Santana and headed for the door. "I mean starving!"

Santana buried her face in her hands and shook her head, realizing the blonde had heard it all. Quinn gave her a playful nudge before looping her arm around Santana's.

"Come on, you. Let's go."

"He exaggerates, you know."

"Sure, sure."

* * *

><p><strong>(238)<strong>

"Honey, our sink is broken!" Santana said sarcastically as she turned both knobs on the sink.

"Not now, Santana," Quinn's voice deadpanned as she continued to walk through the set up kitchen without stopping to play along.

"Hmm. That's odd," Santana continued as she moved onto the next sink. "It looks like all of our sinks are broken."

"Just stop it!" Quinn raised her voice and picked up her pace.

Before following, Santana stood fixed and confused in the kitchen. She watched as Quinn kept walking without looking back.

This was nothing like their last trip to Ikea.

* * *

><p><strong>(31)<strong>

"What is it you're looking for again?" Santana asked as she walked alongside Quinn through the maze of Ikea.

"A reading lamp."

The two navigated from room to room through the complicated layout of the giant super store. When they arrived at a set up living room, Santana plopped down at the leather couch and put her feet up on the table in front of her.

"Ah, home sweet home," she sighed and put her hands behind her head.

Quinn watched with amusement as Santana acted as relaxed as possible, as if she were in her own living room. She caught on immediately and joined in by sitting down next to Santana, allowing for the brunette to put her arm around her.

"Our place is lovely, isn't it?" the blonde said, leaning forward to grab the remote on the table.

"I think Glee's on," she continued as she tried to press the power button on the remote. After pressing it a couple of times, it was clear the TV was just for show.

"Babe, something's wrong with the TV," she declared, perplexed, her voice oozing with sarcasm.

For a second, Santana was afraid she was going to ruin their little game because she couldn't wipe the stupid grin off her face. After a second, she collected herself and stood up.

"Oh, well. Let's eat," Santana said, motioning over to the kitchen, which was adjacent to the living room.

The two practically skipped over and Santana sat down at the kitchen table.

"Smells amazing," the brunette raved, grabbing a fork and knife from the display in front of her.

Behind her, Quinn opened the oven and acted out her best housewife impression.

"I made it myself. It's your favorite," she stated before placing an imaginary plate down on the table. Santana almost couldn't contain her giggling as she pretended to eat.

"Uh oh, San. Our sink is broken!" Quinn exclaimed as she turned both knobs in confusion.

"Not to worry," Santana replied as she jumped up and ushered the blonde into the next room, which happened to be another kitchen.

"That's why we bought a house with two kitchens."

Quinn smiled wide and moved closer to embrace Santana so their lips were only inches apart.

"You're so smart," the blonde whispered. Their bodies still pressed together, Quinn pulled Santana into the next room, which conveniently enough was a bedroom. She fell backwards and allowed for Santana to crawl on top of her.

"I must have you now," Quinn joked as she lay on her back and reached up to place kisses down Santana's cheek and neck.

Santana closed her eyes and momentarily allowed herself to forget about the fact that they were in public. She focused on the feeling of Quinn's soft lips against her skin - she even swore she could feel a current trail Quinn's lips. It wasn't until she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat that she looked up.

"Darling," Santana interrupted. Quinn's lips stopped in their path and the blonde placed her head down against the pillow. "I don't know how to tell you this...but we have company."

Both girls turned to their gaze to see a family of four, standing in the doorway the bedroom and the kitchen, staring at them like they were crazy. Neither girl practically cared, especially Santana, who was completely and totally enamored by Quinn.

"Move along now," the blonde said, waving them away before Santana collapsed with laughter next to her.

"This is fun," Quinn said as she pulled on Santana's vneck. "You're fun."

Not knowing exactly what to say, Santana decided to kiss her instead. Of course, she agreed. This was the most fun she'd had with anyone in a long time.

A few minutes passed and the girls continued to lie in bed. Santana played with Quinn's hair and watched as her eyes sparkled with green.

"Hey, I just want to say...I want you to know up front that I'm not really looking for anything serious," Quinn said, drawing out the syllables in her last word.

Santana could feel her lungs deflate. She tucked her hand that had been running through blond hair into her jeans pocket and she desperately tried to hide her surprise. She had to admit she did not see this coming. I mean, she knew her situation with Quinn felt too good to be true, but she wondered why Quinn had decided to bring this up right now.

"Are you okay with that?" Quinn cautiously continued.

"Oh, sure. Yeah," Santana replied, trying to act normal, although the tone of the conversation had clearly changed.

"Most people kind of freak out when I say that."

"Not me," the brunette continued, trying to keep it cool.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Santana said, convincing herself as she spoke that this was just a speed bump. All she needed was some time and she could change Quinn's mind. "Casual, I get it. See where it goes. Take it slow."

"Exactly," Quinn nodded with relief. "No pressure, no labels, no obligations. Right?"

Santana was still visibly disappointed but tried her best to hide it with a tight-lipped smile.

The two lay on the bed for a few more minutes. Quinn was the first to step out of their fantasy world as she stood up to resume shopping. Reluctantly, Santana followed and they were off to find a reading lamp.

As they continued through the maze of Ikea, Santana tried to keep her mind off of their conversation. _Casual, take it slow._ Her words repeated in her mind and Santana couldn't deny that the way she felt for Quinn was anything but casual.

As they passed rooms filled with paintings and other decor, Santana came to the conclusion that it was better to be taking it slow with Quinn than not to have anything with Quinn at all. Sensing Santana's reservations, Quinn grabbed her hand and led them onto the next display. The blonde intertwined their fingers together and from that one simple touch, Santana's disappointment began to fade.

* * *

><p><strong>(31.5)<strong>

After a long day of shopping, the girls came bounding into Santana's bedroom, lip-locked and all over each other. This wasn't like their kisses before – these were needy and rushed and the two quickly fell into bed and began undressing each other with fast hands. Suddenly, Santana stopped.

"One second, okay?" she said, breathless and a little disoriented.

Quinn nodded and the brunette headed into her bathroom and closed the door. She paced for a few seconds and then looked at herself in the mirror.

"Okay. Settle down. Settle the fuck down. She's just a girl. A girl who wants to keep it casual. Which is why she's half naked in your bed right now. That's casual, right? Casual people do that."

She ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she looked down and was reminded that she was half naked too, only wearing a bra and jeans.

"Shit," she muttered before taking a deep breath. There was no time to fully process her situation. There was no time to kill the butterflies that were fluttering through her stomach. And there was definitely no time to try and come up with a game plan. So instead, she decided to wing it.

Santana took one last breath before opening the door to see Quinn, lying completely naked on her bed, waiting for her.

"Hi," the blonde smirked.

"Jesus," Santana breathed out, speechless at the sight in front of her. It felt all too cliché, but Quinn's beauty had left her speechless. All at once, all of the things Santana wanted to do to and with the blonde in front of her flooded her mind and left her paralyzed.

Quinn couldn't help but laugh and she patted the spot on the bed next to her.

"C'mere," she beckoned, and Santana didn't need to be told twice.


End file.
